Grinning, Cila walked to her quarters and noted that her bags were missing. What?

“I took your satchels to the ship and stowed them. We are ready to leave anytime.” Arkhov gestured for her to precede him.

The hooks on his inner wrists were obvious, but she ignored them and led the way back to his ship. If he wasn’t going to mention them, she wasn’t going to mention them. She had no idea of his species, but it was closely related to the Azon with something spiky thrown in.

She stopped at the exterior hatch. It wasn’t yet keyed to her bio print, so she had to wait for Ripper.

He pressed his hand to the pad, the claws on the tips of his fingers clicking lightly against the plate. “I will get you registered for entry to the ship. Just take a seat at the control panel and I will be with you as soon as I seal the hatch.”

Cila walked into the huge, open space and raised an eyebrow at the small bulkheads that delineated the areas that could hold cargo, the tiny dining area as well as wide bunks that folded up against the wall. She gave a mental snort as she took in enough living and running-around space to fill the tiny relay station. This was more space than she had ever had to herself or even to share with one person than had ever been at her disposal.

“Do you like it?”

She turned to face Arkhov and he was inches from her. Waves of heat were coming from him and she held her breath when his scent started to spike her attention. She backed up half a step and signed. Wow, lots of space.

“The Sector Guard gets to do shakedowns of quite a few new designs for spacecraft. It’s one of the perks.”

You get to fly around in untested ships?

“More or less. They are tested by our technicians and inventors and then we are given the go ahead to fly them on assignment. You will be meeting with Fixer. She and Beast have crafted this particular ship with his wingspan in mind.”

Will I meet them?

“Fixer, most certainly. She will be on the team trying to help you gain control over this mysterious talent of yours.”

She smiled, twisting her lips to one side. There is no mystery. I emanate concussive sonic force. I can do it with my body, but my voice is my most powerful outlet.

He laughed. “As are the voices of most of the women of the Sector Guard, mind you, most of them could not shatter bone with a simple whisper.”

Cila Wen has lived her life unable to speak for fear destroying those around her. The Sector Guard has offered her a position and assistance in controlling her talent, but Cila is not sure if that is even possible. Ripper, her soon-to-be partner, is convinced otherwise and does everything in his power to help her out of her shell and into his bed.